Thom Mayne, Short Bio of an American Pritzker Winner

Thom Mayne has been called many things, from an uncompromising rebel to just plain difficult. Hes also been an academic, mentor, and prize-winning architect for many decades. Most importantly, Maynes legacy includes solving urban problems through connections and viewing architecture as a continuous process rather than a static form. Background: Born: January 19, 1944, Waterbury, Connecticut Education and Professional Training: 1968: Bachelor of Architecture, University of Southern California1978: Master of Architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design Professional: 1968-1970: Planner for Victor Gruen1972: Founder Morphosis, Culver City, California1972: Co-founder Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Santa Monica, California Selected Buildings: 1978: 2-4-6-8 House, Venice, California1983: 72 Market Street Restaurant, Venice, CA (1986 AIA Merit Award)1986: Kate Mantilini Restaurant, Beverly Hills, CA1988: Cedar Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA1990: The Crawford Residence, Montecito, CA1991: Salick Health Care Office Building, Los Angeles, CA (1992 AIA Honor Award)1990: MTV Studios, Los Angeles, CA1995: The Blades Residence, Santa Barbara, CA1997: Sun Tower, Seoul, South Korea1999: Diamond Ranch High School, Pomona, California2002: Hypo Alpe-Adria Center, Austria2005: Caltrans District 7 Headquarters, Los Angeles, CA2006: Wayne L. Morse United States Courthouse, Oregon2007: U.S. Federal Building, San Francisco, CA2009: Float House, Make it Right Foundation2009: Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, 41 Cooper Square, NYC2013: Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, Texas2014: Gates Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York2014: Emerson Los Angeles (ELA), Hollywood, CA2016: Hanking Center T ower, Shenzhen, China2017: Bloomberg Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York Other Designs: 1981: Vietnam War Memorial Competition1990: Osaka Expo 90 Folly, Japan2000: New York Times Magazine Time Capsule competition2003: Silent Collisions, Belgium Awards: 1987: Rome Prize, American Academy of Design in Rome1992: Brunner Prize Award in Architecture, American Academy of Arts and Letters2004: Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA)2005: Pritzker Prize2009: President Obamas Commission on Arts and Humanities2013: AIA Gold Medal Thom Mayne In His Own Words: I have absolutely no interest in producing a building that just accommodates X, Y and Z function.—2005, TED But basically, what we do is, we try to give coherence to the world. We make physical things, buildings that become a part in an accretional process; they make cities. And those things are the reflection of the processes, and the time that they are made. And what Im doing is attempting to synthesize the way one sees the world and the territories which are useful as generative material.—2005, TED ...the idea that architecture is defined as single buildings—of whatever size—that can be plugged into a comprehensible, planned urban matrix is no longer adequate to address the needs of people adapting to a highly mobile and ever-changing urban society.—2011, Combinatory Urbanism, p. 9 I have no interest at all in conceiving something in my brain and saying, This is what it looks like....Architecture is the beginning of something, because its—if youre not involved in first principles, if youre not involved in the absolute, the beginning of that generative process, its cake decoration....its not what Im interested in doing. And so, in the formation of things, in giving it form, in concretizing these things, it starts with some notion of how one organizes.—2005, TED The practice of architecture, which has traditionally been aligned with permanence and stability, must change to accommodate and take advantage of the rapid changes and increased complexities of contemporary reality....combinatory urbanism engages the premise of continuous process over static form....—2011, Combinatory Urbanism, p. 29 No matter what Ive done, what Ive tried to do, everybody says it cant be done. And its continuous across the complete spectrum of the various kind of realities that you confront with your ideas. And to be an architect, somehow you have to negotiate between left and right, and you have to negotiate between this very private place where ideas take place and the outside world, and then make it understood.—2005, TED If you want to survive, youre going to have to change. If you dont change, youre going to perish. Simple as that.—2005, AIA National Convention (PDF) What Others Say About Mayne: Thom Mayne has been, throughout his career, regarded as a rebel. Even today, after his recognized success as an architect of major building projects, requiring the management of a large office—Morphosis—and a world-wide practice, terms like maverick and bad boy and difficult to work with still cling to his reputation. Part of this is the attraction of the popular press, where he appears frequently, to anything racy and even slightly scandalous. Part of it is a sign of respect—we want our American heroes to be tough and independent, having their own ideals, charting their own paths. Part of it is, in Maynes case, simply true.—Lebbeus Woods (1940-2012), architect Maynes approach toward architecture and his philosophy is not derived from European modernism, Asian influences, or even from American precedents of the last century. He has sought throughout his career to create an original architecture, one that is truly representative of the unique, somewhat rootless, culture of Southern California, especially the architecturally rich city of Los Angeles. Like the Eameses, Neutra, Schindler, and Gehry before him, Thom Mayne is an authentic addition to the tradition of innovative, exciting architectural talent that flourishes on the West Coast.—Pritzker Architecture Prize Jury Citation Maynes architecture does not rebel against conventions so much as it absorbs and transforms them and moves on in a direction that demonstrates how buildings and the spaces they provide, both within and without, can engage the unpredictable yet highly tangible dynamics of the present. He accepts the conventional typologies—bank, high school, courthouse, office building—of the programs his clients hand to him, with a generosity that speaks of his respect for the needs of others, even those with whom he shares little in the way of outlook and sensibility.—Lebbeus Woods Sources: Whos Who in America 2012, 66th edition, vol. 2, Marquis Whos Who  ©2011, p. 2903; Biography, An Essay on Thom Mayne By Lebbeus Woods, and Jury Citation,  © The Hyatt Foundation, pritzkerprize.com; Thom Mayne on architecture as connection, TED Talk Filmed February 2005 [accessed June 13, 2013]; Combinatory Urbanism, Selected Introductory Material the New Orleans Urban Redevelopment chapter (PDF), 2011 [accessed June 16, 2013] Learn More: Combinatory Urbanism: The Complex Behavior of Collective Form by Thom Mayne, 2011Thom Mayne: U.S. Federal Office Building, San Francisco, Tom Piper and Charles Gansa, Directors, Landmarks in 21st Century American Architecture Series, Checkerboard Film Foundation, 2008 (DVD)Morphosis: Buildings and Projects

Genetically Modified Organisms ( Gmos ) - 1291 Words

Genetically Engineered Organisms Genetically Modified Organisms or (GMOs) have become a very large part of today’s economy and food distribution. Globalization 101 presents a good definition, â€Å"A GMO is an organism (either a virus, a bacterium, or a more complex life-form) whose genetic makeup has been altered by humans for a specific purpose. (â€Å"Genetically Modified Organisms,† n.d.).† Billion dollar crop corporations, farmers, and food distributors all use GMOs to maximize their production efforts. Whether it be on a small scale, such as a family farm or on a national setting with a company the size of General Mills; this scientific advancement has proved to be extremely useful. This technology has allowed for crops to produce higher†¦show more content†¦However, research has been done questioning whether or not â€Å"playing God† and manipulating the genetics of food is worth the risks it may present to the human population. Today, with use of GMOs, the DNA from se veral organisms may be combined to create desirable effects or changes in crops. Through the use of gene transfer, the genetic makeup of these modified organisms may contain genes from: plant, bacteria, animal, and viruses. Early forms of the GMO concept could be traced back to the process of â€Å"selective breeding†. Through selective breeding it was possible to breed for desirable traits. â€Å"Through selective breeding, farmers and ranchers have introduced valued traits into crops and livestock for centuries. It was selective breeding, for example, that produced two main species in the grass family, wheat and rye. Some farmers focused on breeding a grass that was rugged (resulting in rye), and other farmers focused on breeding grass with a high yield (wheat). By identifying and â€Å"crossing† grasses that exhibited the desired traits, farmers were able to breed these two distinct species.† (â€Å"Genetically Modified Organisms,† n.d.). However, modern alterations are much more technologically advanced and possess stronger effects. An article from the University of Utah Health Sciences Department gives a good example using a tomato plant that is constantly attacked by insects. They give this situation, stating that a farmer wants

History of Life on Earth Free Essays

Chapter 25: History of Life on Earth Synthesis of Organic Compounds on Early Earth * The Earth probably formed about 4. 6 billion years ago, and was bombarded with rocks and other material until about 3. 9 billion years ago. We will write a custom essay sample on History of Life on Earth or any similar topic only for you Order Now * The Earth then cooled, allowing for the formation of oceans. Scientists hypothesize the general atmosphere, or at least some regions, were naturally reducing environments, meaning that they added electrons to compounds. * Activation energy provided by lightening or UV radiation may have been able to create organic compounds and amino acids, as demonstrated by a number of modern experiments. Abiotic Synthesis of Macromolecules * Experiments have been done in which amino acid solutions in hot sand have formed polymers, but not true proteins. These polymers may have functioned as basic catalysts of some kind, however. Protobionts * Cells have genetic material in the form of DNA and RNA, which they are also capable of replicating. Nothing like this has been generated spontaneously in lab experiments. * However, early structures called  protobionts  have had some of the capabilities associated with life. Experiments have spontaneously create protobionts, which are simple sphere of membrane that can perform simple metabolic and reproductive functions. * Note: phospholipids spontaneously form a bilayer, like the membrane that surrounds cells, so that part of the puzzle is easy to solve. Self-Replicating RNA and the Dawn of Natural Selection * Simple RNA structures called  ribozymes  can carry out basic chemical reactions and are even capable of replicating themselves. * As ribozymes replicated themselves (with errors) protobionts could have developed internal collections of slightly different enzymes that formed a rudimentary metabolic system. The RNA in these early â€Å"cells† may have served as a template for the eventual creation of a DNA genome, which would have reduced the number of errors made during replication. The Fossil Record * The fossil record gives a glimpse of life on Earth during different time periods and provides clues for evolutionary research. However, the fossil record also has significant gaps, but some are being filled by new discoveries. How Rocks and Fossils are Dated * Fossils appear in individual sediment layers, which tell us the order that they were formed in but not an actual age in years. Scientists use  radiometric dating  to determine absolute ages. * Radiometric dating is based on the fact that some radioactive elements have predictable  half-lives, or periods in which half of the substance will decay. If you know how much of a certain radioactive element an organism has when it died, such as carbon-14, you can determine its age by measuring the amount of carbon-14 remaining today. * Older fossils are harder to date, but you can at least guess based on the age of fossils in the surrounding layers. The Origin of New Groups of Organisms The presence of certain bones, different kinds of teeth and other characteristics can help researchers make inferences about what an animal may been like while it was alive. Changes between similar fossils of different time periods also show the pace of evolutionary change. The First Single-Celled Organisms * Scientists have found fossilized  stromolites  that are thought to have lived 3. 5 billion years ago – the ear liest organisms discovered to date. Stromolites are mounds of prokaryotes that bind to their kin and other inorganic material. Photosynthesis and the Oxygen Revolution 2. 7 billion years ago, there were probably cynobacteria in the ocean that used  photosynthesis  for energy and released oxygen in the process. The oxygen that these bacteria released would have eventually begun reacting with iron, and finally escaped into the atmosphere as a gas. * This buildup of oxygen actually killed many prokaryotes, and provided a strong selective force in favor of cells that could use oxygen in their metabolism. The cells that survived the â€Å"oxygen revolution† are probably the ancestors of today’s  aerobic  organisms. The First Eukaryotes The earliest eukaryotes are thought to have lived around 2. 1 billion years ago. These early eukaryotes probably formed through  endosymbiosis, in which they engulfed small, living, cells and developed a mutualistic (mutually beneficial) relationship with them. * The  mitochondria, for example, may have been â€Å"formed† in this way. The mitochondria has a double membrane, maintains and replicates its own DNA and reproduce independently of the rest of the cell. The Origin of Multicellularity * As cells became more complex, they also came to exhibit greater diversity. Multicellular structures also began to form. The Earliest Multicellular Eukaryotes The earliest multicellular eukaryotes probably lived around 1. 5 billion years ago. Earth had a few ice ages between 750-580 million years ago. Eukaryote diversity increased after the end of this period. The Cambrian Explosion * Scientists have found a whole bunch of animal fossils from the Cambrian Period (535-525 million years ago). While previous animals seem to have mostly been herbivores or filter-feeders, the animals that arose during the  Cambrian Explosion  had claws and armor. Recent evidence, however, suggests that some of these animals were living before the Cambrian Period, so maybe â€Å"explosion† isn’t the best term. The Colonization of Land * Prokaryotes lived on land as long as 1 billion years ago, but larger organisms wouldn’t get there until around 500 million years ago. Plants, which often had mutually beneficial relationships with fungi, colonized the land and began developing specialized structures suited to life out of water. Arthropods, such as insects, also spread on to the land. Continental Drift Here’s something weird: the continents move. They might move really slowly, when you’re talking about millions of years, those tiny movements add up. This process, called  continental drift, involves the movement of the Earth’s plates. The collision of two plates can form mountain ranges, cause earthquakes, and so forth. Consequences of Continental Drift * Around 250 million years ago, most of the Earth’s land was concentrated into once massive continent called  Pangaea. As the plates moved, climates changed (sometimes dramatically) and many species went extinct. The separation of plates, in contrast, promotes  allopatric speciation. * These changes in the Earth’s geography help explain similarities between distant organisms, for example. Mass Extinctions * Species go extinct all the time, but there are also major events that are particularly important in evolutionary history –  mass extinctions. The â€Å"Big Five† Mass Extinction Events * Here are a few stats involving fives for you: * Over the past 500 million years * We’ve had 5 mass extinctions Each of which caused the deaths of more than 50% of the world’s species * In the  Permian mass extinction, massive volcanic activity spewed lava over 1. 6 million square kilometers and released a huge amount of carbon dioxide, which may have warmed the planet and indirectly caused the deaths of many aquatic organisms. * In the  Cretaceous mass extinction, which killed many of the dinosaurs, an asteroid probably struck the Earth. This would have created a huge cloud of debris that could block the sun and alter the planet’s climate rather significantly. Such an impact may have created the Chicxulub crater in Mexico. Is a Sixth Mass Extinction Under Way? * Humans haven’t killed as many species as the other mass extinctions did, but we’re killing them between 100-1,000 times faster than they normally die. And that could be a big problem. Consequences of Mass Extinctions * It generally takes a few million years for the number of species on the Earth to rebound after a mass extinction. These events also generally wipe out species without regard to their fitness or environmental adaptations. Adaptive Radiations * The diversity of organisms has increased in the last 250 million years, as populations adapt to new environmental conditions and undergo speciation. These  adaptive radiations  generally occur on a large scale after mass extinctions, which leave many ecological niches open. Worldwide Adaptive Radiations * After the dinosaurs went extinct around 65. 5 million years ago, mammals underwent significant adaptive radiation, filling the roles that now-extinct species had occupied in individual ecosystems. Regional Adaptive Radiations Hawaii, which is far from any other continent, is a particularly stark example of adaptive radiation. There are hundreds of species on Hawaii that don’t exist anywhere else in the world. Evolutionary Effects of Developmental Genes * Developmental patterns have also changed over time. * Changes in Rate and Timing * One common developmental change is  heterochrony, in which different parts of the body grow at different rates or at different times. Some organisms can undergo  phetomorphosis, in which the adult form of the organism retains traits that previously had been confined to children. Basically, if human adults started looking like babies, we would have a phetomorphosis situation on our hands. Changes in Spatial Pattern * Changes in the  homeotic genes, which control how and where individual body structures develop, could have led to the development of vertebrates and other organisms. The Evolution of Development * There are a few different ways that mutations can significantly influence body structure. Changes in Genes * Many organisms have similar genes that are nevertheless different enough to produce very different outcomes. By identifying and testing each difference between the two genes, researchers can pinpoint the precise changes that alter the gene’s function. Changes in Gene Regulation * Sometimes changes in gene regulation, and thus gene expression, can alter an organism’s body structure. These changes can be localized to specific types of cells, and thus are less potentially dangerous than changes to the genome itself. Evolutionary Novelties * Evolution doesn’t proceed with a final goal in mind, and just involves slight changes from one generation to the next. Over time, simpler structures can become more complex and useful. Structures can also develop into something that serves a totally different purpose than their original function. Evolutionary Trends * The problem with looking at evolutionary trends (such as â€Å"horses are getting bigger†), you’re examining a linear succession of different horse ancestors but rather a branched tree of ancestors that diverged in all different directions. * However, natural selection also works on entire species. If speciation is the birth of a species and extinction is its death, natural selection could guide the development of these successive â€Å"generations† and thus create a trend. How to cite History of Life on Earth, Essays

Fitness Essay Example For Students

Fitness Essay The 1995 Dietary Guidelines for AmericansI’m really bad in this area. I usually eat the same things every day. I eat sandwiches for lunch and pizza for dinner. I need to implement a variety of foods into my diet. Balance the food you eat with physical activity maintain or improve your weight. I’m even worse in this area. Ever since I came to school, my physical activity has been limited to Fit/Well class. I really need to start doing some exercise. My weight right now isn’t too bad, but at this rate I’ll be really fat by the time I graduate. Choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol. Fat intake should not exceed 30% of your total kcal intake. I average 36%. So, I need to cut down on my fats. Cholesterol intake should not exceed 300 mg per day. I averaged 283. Im good with my cholesterol. I dont eat any sweets. Actually, besides pop, I dont eat anything sweet, so Im alright here. Choose a diet moderate in salt and sodium. Sodium intake should not exceed 2400 mg per day. I average 1634 mg per day, so Im pretty good here. If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation. I dont drink alcohol, so I shouldnt have any problems here. The bread, cereal, rice, and pasta group recommends 6-11 servings per day. I averaged 11.5 servings. Id say Im pretty close in that group. I could eat a little less there. The fruit group recommends 2-4 servings. I averaged 1.8 servings per day. I should definitely eat more fruits. The vegetable group recommends 3-5 servings. I averaged 1.7 servings per day. I need to eat more vegetables. The milk, yogurt, and cheese group recommends 2-3 servings per day. I averaged 6.7 servings per day. I need to cut down on my milk and cheese. The meat, poultry, dry beans, eggs, and nuts group recommends 2-3 servings per day. I averaged 2.4 servings per day. Im really good in this group. Fats, oils, and sweets are to be used sparingly. I averaged 3.3 servings per day. I, like most Americans, need to cut down in this group. I eat a lot of sandwiches. My sandwiches have a lot of cheese and fat in them. If I gradually cut down on them, it would decrease my cheese and fat groups, which is good. But it would also decrease my bread and vegetable groups, which will need to be supplemented in other foods. I could eat just plain bread every once in a while instead of always putting cheese and fatty sandwich meats in between. I could also gradually begin to start making salads. This would supplement my decrease in lettuce that I put on my sandwiches. I need more vegetables anyhow, so I could put lots of different vegetables in my salads. As far as my fruit group, Im pretty close but still need a little more. I could plan to eat an apple or banana for lunch and dinner which would bring me up to the recommended amount in that group. As for my fats, oils, and sweets group, I think I could cut down a little. I think decreasing my sandwiches will help out. Also, I can cut down on my snacks, which are usually Doritos or something like that. Bibliography: john adams 1827 .